Never Forgotten: Path of Fate
by NorthernNightfall24
Summary: During a catastrophic event, Nori, Max, Giovanni and Hunter fall from the Observatory, thus becoming separated from one another. In a search to find each other again, they begin to realize that the fate of the Protectorate as well as the celestial world, are in grave danger. Can they stop the evil from consuming both worlds? MaxNori. Major swearing, and violence.
1. Chapter 1

I've decided to rewrite this story yet again for the fifth time, and this time, it's gonna be so much better...

Professor Applegate: Ha! I doubt that...

Me: I thought you said that you were starting to like my stories...

Professor Applegate: I really only said that specifically towards your Sonadow stories, and plus I didn't even know that you had a story based off of a video game...

Ataru: Yeah, me neither.

Me: That's because I was working on this story before the concept of "Never Forgotten" came to mind...

Hunter: That makes sense.

Me: Some things for the rewrite haven't changed though, like the people who are going to be in it, and pretty much everything else. Oh, and Nori, since there isn't a ninja vocation in Dragon Quest IX, you'll become a martial artist for awhile...

Nori: (frowning) What? Are you kidding me?

Me: No, I'm afraid not. Sorry.

Nori: ...I'll still have my staff, right?

Me: Yes, you will.

Nori: (smiling) Cool! Professor, can you watch the Universal Quartz for me?

Professor Applegate: Of course, Nori.

Nori: (hands the Professor the Universal Quartz) Thanks.

Me: And another thing, I'll have to limit your magic powers, as martial artists don't have many magic points, that means you can't heal or vanish into thin air...but your speed will not change and neither will your appearance...actually, that's a lie.

Nori: ...What now?

Me: You, Gio, Max and Hunter will be granted wings, a halo and weird outfits.

Nori, Max, Giovanni and Hunter: WHAT?!

Oh, calm your tits! It's only going to be for about two chapters...

Max: What happens to our wings and halos?

Giovanni: And our weird outfits?

Me: (grinning with mischief) You'll see...

Professor Applegate: NorthernNightfall24 doesn't own anything but her original characters. All other things belong to Akira Toriyama and Square Enix. I can't wait to see where this mess goes...

Felix!

Professor Applegate: Okay, okay, I'm sorry...sheesh.

Jayce: Hey, this looks fun. I wanna be in the story too.

Ashe: Sorry, Jayce, but according to the gameplay, the party can only contain up to four characters, and Nori, Max, Gio and Hunter are the main characters of "Never Forgotten".

Jayce: (saddened) ...Oh...so, I'm not important?

Professor Applegate: Of course you're important, Jayce, we all are. Anyways, you don't really fight much, so you probably wouldn't have been much help...

Jayce: B-But I could've trained for this, Professor!

Professor Applegate: And, you're kinda clumsy...

Jayce: Hmph. (walks away)

Giovanni: (grabs a pillow) Kamehameha! (throws it at the back of Professor Applegate's head)

Nori: Amaterasu! (karate chops the Professor in the back of his neck)

Professor Applegate: Ow! What the hell were those for?

Giovanni: For making Jayce feel bad, you fucking dumbass.

Nori: Yeah, baka.

Max: Rasengan! (palms the Professor in his forehead)

Professor Applegate: Ow, stop it, please! I'm sorry! You guys have gotta stop watching Naruto and Dragon Ball Z...

Hunter: You can be pretty mean, Professor. You know that?

Professor Applegate: (embarrassed) ...

oooooooooooo

"You've come exceptionally far, Nori," Nori's teacher Aquila complimented, his arms crossed.

He and Nori hovered over the small town of Angel Falls, watching as the citizens carried on with their day.

The teacher looked away from his student and continued, "However, I must confess to having had my doubts about you taking my place..." his voice had become quiet, barely audible over the waterfall, as if he were ashamed, "but the continued peace and safety among the inhabitants' is proof enough of your devotion. When Apus Major told me to take you as my apprentice, I never thought to see you bloom so. You are indeed worthy of your title, Nori, Guardian of Angel Falls," he said, smiling.

"Thank you, Aquila," Nori replied with a meek smile, eyes closed.

"You needn't thank me, my pupil," Aquila chuckled, turning to face the guardian, but then he felt something strange happening not too far away, "Hm?"

"...What is it?" Nori asked, sensing Aquila's sudden hostility. Something was awry, and he knew it.

oooooooooooo

Not too far in the distance, a young girl with purple hair wearing an orange bandana named Erinn, walked along the trail, her grandfather right along side her. Well, sort of.

"Don't ever get old, my dear Erinn," Erinn's grandfather huffed and puffed, beginning to lag behind, "you don't ever want to get old."

Erinn giggled and stopped, waiting for the old man to catch up with her, "Oh, Grandpa," she smiled, "it's not much further now. I'm sure you'll make it."

Meanwhile, almost at the same time as this was happening, a cruelcumber and two slimes popped out of a bush before dashing across the road, hiding behind a boulder. They looked back and saw the two oblivious humans approaching ever nearer...

oooooooooooo

"Those wicked creatures must'nt be allowed to ambush innocent members of your flock, Nori," Aquila said quickly and sternly, "Come, Guardian of Angel Falls, it's time to fulfill our duty as Celestrians!"

Nori nodded in agreement, following his airborne teacher, who had gracefully swooped down on the monsters and challenged them to a good old-fashioned duel, drawing his sword and getting into his fighting stance.

The cruelcumber lunged at Aquila, but its attack faltered when the Celestrian evaded the attack, using his sword to split the monster in two, watching as it materialized into some purple dust, leaving some coins behind.

Nori, on the other hand, was having some difficulty with the two slimes. They were a little faster than him, which made it hard for the guardian to try and get a direct hit. His weapon of choice consisted of a beautiful iron staff. Engraved on it were symbols of clouds that spiraled up the pole.

One of the slimes began to attack the guardian from behind, catching him off guard, making him loose his footing. The other slime took this chance to get him twice in the face. He quickly regained his balance and squashed the troublesome slime with his staff, having it vanish as the cruelcumber had done. The battle ended when Aquila took care of the last enemy, which left behind more coins than the cruelcumber. Nori made no haste picking up the leftover reward and putting it inside his bag. Aquila could've cared less about the money.

When they were both certain it was over, they watched as Erinn and her grandfather had made another stop by the huge rock. "Look, Grandpa," she said cheerfully, "There's Angel Falls up ahead!"

"Aaah," the old man sighed, "I never thought that I would set my tired old eyes on this place again, but here we are at last. Home sweet home."

Erinn, the smile still on her face, put her hands on her hips and shook her head, "Oh, don't be so melodramatic, Grandpa! The village guardian will have been watching over us the whole way. Nothing could've ever happened to us!"

Upon hearing that, Nori couldn't help but crack a smile; it was nice to hear that somebody appreciated what he had done thus far.

The young girl then put her hands together, bowed her head and prayed, "Belovent Nori," she began, "thank you for protecting us on our journey," After that, she and her grandfather continued on to their home town.

Erinn's body became engulfed in a greenish blue light, which turned into a beautiful, serene orb, which floated into Nori's open hands.

"What is this thing?" Nori questioned with awe, the light illuminating his pale peach skin.

"Behold, Nori," Aquila answered, "Benevolessence. The crystallization of the the mortals' gratitude towards we who watch over them. Our cardinal duty is to offer this sacred object to mighty Yggdrasil, the Great World Tree."

Nori carefully put the benevolessence into his bag, and his teacher continued, "Come, Nori, let us return to the Observatory, that you may make your offering."

Aquila and the guardian readied themselves for flight and flew into the cloudy blue sky to get to their destination. Soon, they came into contact with a strange, floating tower that was covered in vines and leaves. At the top sat Yggdrasil, swaying in the cool breeze. Unable to be seen by mortals, this was the Observatory; the place that Celestrians called home. They entered the Observatory through a mystic portal in the floor.

Aquila turned to his apprentice, "The first task a guardian must perform upon returning from the Protectorate is to report to Apus Major," he explained, "As unchanging as the North Star, you'll find him in the Great Hall." he turned back around and began to walk away.

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" Nori asked, however, he kind of already knew the answer.

Aquila stopped, "I'm afraid not. I have other matters to attend to. You must excuse me." he went on ahead upstairs, to pay a visit to a friend of his.

Nori went up the stairs to the next floor, the Great Hall, and as his master had said, there, at the end of the hall, sat Apus Major, in all of his ancient glory.

"Um...good day, sir," the guardian said, trying to sound as formal as possible.

"Well met, Nori, apprentice of Aquila," replied the leader of all Celestrians, "Welcome back. I trust your absence hasn't been so lengthy that you forget your old master, Apus Major!"

"Certainly not," Nori shook his head, "Who could forget someone as important as you?" he chose his words carefully.

Letting out a hearty laugh, Apus Major went on, "Indeed. You have my congratulations on successfully completing your first task as a guardian," he complimented.

"Thank you."

"You have performed your duties well thus far, albeit under Aquila's watchful gaze. But, the time has come for you to spread your own wings..."

Nori's multicolored topaz eyes widened upon hearing that. Did he mean...?

"What say you? Are you ready to undertake your duties alone?"

"Absolutely." the guardian answered quickly. He was a very responsible, truthful and trustworthy Celestrian. He was also very independent at times, so taking care of Angel Falls without supervision would be a piece of cake for him.

The old Celestrian gave another hearty laugh, "Ho ho ho! I see you're an confident apprentice. Very good. The young have confidence where the old have experience. And so we come to the next of your duties. I believe you've acquired a crystal of benevolessence, have you not? The essence of mortal gratitude."

Nori nodded, fixing his glasses and listening attentively.

"You must offer it unto the Great World Tree, Yggdrasil, who shelters us with Her nurturing boughs from atop the Observatory. She will soon bear fruit at last. Go now, and do as I've instructed."

Nori bowed respectively before travelling up another set of stairs, now outside of the tower. He looked up and sighed, 'That's a lot of fucking stairs,' he thought. Did Yggdrasil really have to be so high up?

(Meanwhile in another room...)

oooooooooooo

"I was surprised to hear of Nori's promotion," came the voice of Aquila's friend Columba, "I didn't expect you to permit it so soon."

Nori's teacher shook his head, "You assume too much, Columba. I also believe that it's too soon for him to take on a Guardianship. It was Apus Major's decision."

"Indeed?" Columba chuckled, "How amusing! I might've known."

"It's no laughing matter. Nori is but a fledgling. What if something were to happen in the Protectorate?" Aquila said in a serious tone. He hushed his voice, "...Do you forget the tragedy of Corvus so soon?"

"Hmph," Columba crossed her arms, "No, of course not, but...we've been forbidden to talk of that matter here in the Observatory, have we not?"

"..." Aquila looked down, as Columba was right. The disappearance of Corvus was never to be spoken of under any circumstances.

oooooooooooo

Concluding that he didn't have the right to complain, Nori decided to take the tread up to the top, but he stopped halfway there because there was a beefy Celestrian blocking the next set of stairs.

"What brings you here, strange tail-bearing Celestrian?"

"I need...to...give this...benevolessence...to...Yggdrasil..." Nori panted, showing the guard the crystal, using his unique tail to wipe the cumulating sweat from his forehead.

"Oh, well then, in that case," the beefy one moved out of the way, "you may pass."

Nori whimpered and walked up the time-consuming and leg-wearing steps, taking about another three minutes or so to finally reach the top of the observatory, only to find just one last set of stairs to to walk up.

'So many stairs...'

When he finally reached the foot of the Great World Tree, he fell to his knees, and held the benevolessence above his head and watched as the essence was absorbed into the trunk of the tree, consuming Her in a warm, welcoming light, making an echoed twinkling sound as it did just.

Just then, Nori heard footsteps behind him.

"Behold, Nori..." came the voice of Aquila, "Is Yggdrasil, unto whom we offer the benevolessence we gather, not truly beautiful?"

"She's breath-taking," the guardian replied, honestly not sure what to say.

Aquila eyed the glorious tree and nodded, "Gathering and offering up benevolessence is the most sacred duty in which we Guardians are charged. I trust you will perform your duties well, Nori, Guardian of Angel Falls."

"I will."

Nori eye twitched as he began to descend the...stairs, those annoying steps, those "never-ending" tiers, those motherfucking-

"Oh, and one more thing..."

Nori quickly stopped and turned around, "Yes, Aquila?" he asked.

Aquila sighed, "I've been thinking, Nori, Guardian of Angel Falls," he paused, "to address you as "Guardian of Angel Falls" is both convoluted and inconvenient. You will henceforth allow me to use this form of address only when formality dictates, I take it?"

"Of course," Nori smiled. To be honest, he thought it was kind of ridiculous too.

"Good," the teacher smirked, "It's well that you succumb to my recommendation so quickly, my pupil. As you are aware, the law forbids a Celestrian to oppose a superior...Now, go to Apus Major and tell him of the successful completion of your task." he discontinued with what he was going on about and returned his attention to the Great World Tree.

The guardian went down...the stairs...but he hadn't even made it halfway down before he was yanked off to side and pulled into the part of the observatory that housed the roots of Yggdrasil.

"Nori, where have you been? We haven't seen you all day!" cried a familiar yet-to-mature voice that belonged to Giovanni, one of his close friends, "You promised to train with us earlier this afternoon!" Standing next to Giovanni were Max and Hunter, Nori's other friends.

'Shit, I did say that...' Nori thought before saying, "Guys, I'm sorry, I've just been taking care of really important things lately."

"What could be more important than hanging out with your best buddies?" Hunter questioned, furrowing his eyebrow.

"Well," Nori sighed, "I recently became the Guardian of Angel Falls..."

"Wait," Max jumped in, "Aquila stepped down, and gave his job...to you?"

"Hai."

"Nori-kun, why would you accept the offer?" the warrior frowned.

Nori blushed when his crush used his pet name, "...Well, I couldn't exactly say no, Max...it's kinda against the rules."

"You won't have time for us anymore..." Hunter said sadly.

"...That's not entirely true," Nori scratched the back of his head, beginning to feel a bit guilty for separating from his friends a tad, "my spare time has just become...limited."

"Yeah, a little too limited, if you ask me," Giovanni scoffed, turned away from everyone and crossed his arms, looking down towards the floor.

"Oh, Gio don't be like that," Hunter sighed, drawing closer behind his close relative and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know Nori means well..."

"Yeah, he would never try and hurt any of us on purpose, unless he had a good reason..." Max added.

"Gio, please, don't be mad at me," the guardian walked in front of the mage, "if I had the choice, I would've chosen not to be a guardian just so that I could spend time with all of you, but..."

Giovanni's blue-green eyes looked up to meet his mysterious friend's golden, apologetic gaze.

"I just can't. I'm really, really sorry." and Nori meant it. He hated making anybody feel upset or against him for any reason whatsoever, especially if it was coming from the people he cared the most about, "Forgive me?"

"Oh, Nori!" Giovanni jumped into the guardian's arms and hugged him tightly. "I'm not mad at you, and you didn't have to apologize! I'm just disappointed, and I don't wanna lose you!" his voice became quiet, "I don't wanna lose any of you. You guys are like brothers to me, and I want us to stay close for centuries, millenniums even..." The mage did not like change; specifically within his relationships. If one friend distanced themselves from the others, he would do anything to get that one individual back. To him, It would feel unnatural to have one friend missing.

Max and Hunter joined their other two companions in embrace, forming a big group hug.

"Gio, you don't need to worry about that kinda stuff," Max said warmly, "there's nothing in this world that can tear us apart."

Or, was there?

"We'll always find a way," Hunter chimed in, "Anyways," he continued as they all pulled away from each other, "there have been rumors spreading around that Yggdrasil is almost ready to bare fruit. I know for sure that it shouldn't take much of those benevol-whatsits to push Her over the edge..."

"Damn, I almost forgot!" Nori cried, racing for...the stairs...that he had grown such a strong hate for...

"...Where are you going now?" Giovanni said with a saddened expression.

"I have to report back to Apus Major, so that I can get to my next mission and collect more benevolessence! I promise with all my heart that I'll be back ASAP!"

'Benevolessence, that's how you say it,' Hunter thought, making a mental note for himself.

The warrior, the mage and the ranger exchanged glances and sighed simultaneously, waiting for their friend to return...

oooooooooooo

Nori hurried to the Great Hall and found himself before Apus Major once more.

"Well done, Nori," Apus Major happily exclaimed, "And how did mighty Yggdrasil appear to you?"

"She gave off this fierce glow..." the guardian said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with the sleeve of his strange angelic outfit that all Celestrians under apprenticeship were expected to wear.

"She was fiercely aglow?" the ancient Celestrian repeated, so that he could verify what he had just heard.

The guardian nodded, putting his glasses back on.

"Ho ho ho!" came that all-too-familiar laugh, "It seems that the time may soon be upon us. As I'm sure you are aware, it's we Celestrians' duty to tend mighty Yggdrasil until such time as She bears fruit. It's to this end that Guardians watch over mortalkind and gather benevolessence. And now, Nori, Guardian of Angel Falls," he began to stroke his long white beard, "I believe you know what you must do next..."

Nori nodded slowly.

"You are to return to the Protectorate and gather benevolescence...this time without Aquila to accompany you. Make ready, and the then speak with the female celestrian that stands guard over the great portal on the floor below. May all the bodies of the heavens guard over you, Nori, Guardian of Angel Falls."

"I'll do my best, sir." Nori made another respective gesture towards his elder before departing for the first floor. He spotted the female celestrian and walked up to her, but before he could say anything, she spoke first.

"Ah, Nori," she started, "you wish to descend to the Protectorate, I take it?"

The guardian gave her a nod.

"So," she smiled, "the time has finally come for you to venture the Protectorate alone."

"Yeah, pretty much," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, good luck, Nori. May the assistance you bestow upon the mortals of Angel Falls give rise to galaxies of benevolessence!" she added cheerfully.

"Thanks." the guardian jumped in the portal and into the mortals' world; specifically Angel Falls.

oooooooooooo

Nori landed on the ground safely, and he came across a bouncy dog which had been hiding behind the village shoppe, it's tail (A/N: The dog's tail, not Nori's, just in case you got a little confused there) wagging from side to side with happiness.

"Oh, hello," Nori greeted, giving the dog a good rubdown. He was more of a cat "person", but that didn't mean he didn't like dogs.

"Arf! Ar, ar, arf!" the dog barked, rolling on to its back, exposing its stomach, "Arf, arf!"

This was one very ecstatic dog...

This went on a little while longer before the dog got back up and walked over to something shiny in the grass.

"What? You see something?" Nori asked, following the four-legged creature.

And then there it was. Glistening in the grass was a beautiful keepsake ring that somebody had dropped.

"Bow wow wow!" the dog barked again and looked at Nori.

The guardian picked the ring up from off the ground and put it into his pocket. "Good dog," he said, petting the canine one last time before walking away, looking into the light blue sky. If he wanted to keep his promise to his friends, he would have to work diligently, and efficiently.

He noticed two kids off in the distance, probably about his age, conversing about something. Now, he usually wasn't the nosy type; that was more of a Giovanni type of thing, but since he was invisible, and therefore couldn't be seen by mortals, he decided to make an exception...

"...It's really weird..." Ivor, one of the boys said.

"What's weird?" replied the troublemaker's friend Hugo, the other boy, "You mean that name thingy on the Guardian statue, Ivor?"

Ivor looked at the Guardian statue, "Of course I mean that name thingy, Hugo, you dolt!" he yelled, "I'm sure it said "Aqui-" something before, but now it's "Nori"..."

"Really?" Hugo raised an eyebrow, "Well, it's said "Nori" for as long as I can remember."

"And how long is that, exactly?" Ivor questioned, "Do you remember reading it before?"

Hugo scratched the back of his head, "Er...I...that's funny...I, I can't say that I do."

"You see!" the light blonde boy nodded, "Everyone around here's weird. It's only just changed, and everyone thinks it's been like that forever."

"Ah-ha!" the lemon blonde boy's blue eyes widened, "It must be the work of the village Guardian then!"

Ivor shook his head, "Don't be such a wally! There's no such thing as Guardians. They're just made up rubbish. It's only Erinn who believes in all that nonsense. She's such a dumb, er...brunette."

'That was interesting,' Nori thought as he noticed another boy a few yards away, who looked to be about 7 years old, and he didn't appear to be very happy.

"That Ivor's so full of himself," he heard the little boy mumble, "Huh! Just because he's the Mayor's son, he thinks he owns the place." he looked to the sky, "Please, Guardian Nori," he pleaded sweetly, "can you answer my prayers and teach him a lesson for us?"

'That, I can do.' One thing that Nori didn't like were people that were full of themselves, full of pride. Those were the types that he could easily prove wrong with logic and wit (not what, wit). Sure, he himself was talented at a lot of things, but he didn't use those traits to show off and make others feel like they couldn't do something spectacular and were less than what they were really worth. If anything, he would try to hide his gifts from society, unless they actually needed to be used...

All the guardian had to figure out was how to teach the troublemaker a lesson, and since he hadn't been insulted by said troublemaker yet, this was going to acquire a little thinking...or so he thought. At that exact moment, he thought of something that he would NEVER do to anyone...he smirked, showing his elongated fangs.

He walked behind Ivor, who was still going on about Guardians and Erinn.

"Erinn's always going on about how everything is thanks to the Guardian," he snickered, "Stupid, if you ask me. If this Guardian really exists, then why doesn't she introduce him to me, eh?"

That's what Nori was waiting for!

'Erinn this, Erinn that,' Hugo thought as he listened to his friend, 'he's clearly head over heels in love with the girl. Funnily enough, she still doesn't seem to have realized at all. It could be a hard road ahead for poor Ivor...'

Immediately, the Guardian raised his hand and in one swift motion, he slapped Ivor in the back of his head. This, was also more of a Giovanni type of thing.

"Ow!" Ivor cried, clutching his head, looking around frantically, "Wh-What the-!? Who did that?" he paused, "...The village Guardian, I suppose?" he mumbled. He crossed his arms, "Oi, Guardian!" the light blonde spat distastefully, "If you're really there, shouldn't you be helping people, and not going around hitting them?"

'I wonder what's up with Ivor all the sudden...' Hugo thought once more.

Nori chuckled, and deciding that it was time to stop fooling around, he wondered off to a nearby stable, petting a brown horse that was eating some grass before he went in.

However, he soon wished he hadn't done so. In a split second, a very pungent and unpleasant smell kicked him in the face, making his nose burn.

To his right was a farmer laying on a pile of plush hay, and appeared to look dazed and tired.

"Haah, well," he murmured, "I suppose I better get the stable cleaned out a bit sharpish," he took a moment to yawn, his eyes slowly closing, "...I'm ever so sleepy though. My body feels like it's made of...lead..." he slowly dozed off, the sound of his loud snoring gradually filling the perimeter.

Nori stared with amazement, pinching his nose to block out the obvious smell of course, thinking about how anybody can take the time to rest in a place that smelled like, well...shit.

Literally.

Scattered around the stable before the now slightly annoyed guardian, were five giant lumps of feces, or less scientifically speaking, poop, or manure, specifically from a horse, probably from the one outside...

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Nori said, growling lightly. He sighed and rolled up his sleeves, his tail twitching with frustration as he proceeded to clean up after the lazy farmer and scoop all of the fecal matter with a close by pitchfork into his beloved bag.

His now no longer loved, stinky bag.

(A/N: If you ever have to do something like this, use a shovel, not a pitchfork, people. This has been a public service announcement from the National Association of Bullshit Scenarios.)

About three and a half hours later, Nori had completely finished, and a few seconds after that, the farmer woke up with a startling shock.

"Ach, no..." he frowned, "I can't believe I feel asleep again! And I still have to get rid of all this horse shi-" he stopped himself, noticing something about his surroundings.

"What the-!? How come it's so clean...?" he asked himself, "I'd only just started to tidy up when I dozed off," that's when the only possible answer dawned upon him, "Ah, that must be it! The guardian's been helpin' me while I've been asleep!"

'Yeah, and I'm NEVER doing it again!' a voice screamed in the guardian's head, 'KESSHITE! You can bet your freakin' horse on that!'

"Thank you, Nori! I'll work harder from now on, I promise. I'll have me another horse in no time, you'll see!" from the farmer came a blue-green light, and from that, Nori received a crystal of benevolessence.

"I guess it was worth it then," the guardian smiled and exited the stable, going to the middle of town, and dumping his poor bag into the river, cleaning it of its unfavorable contents. When he finished that, he ringed it out until it was dry, and then he continued to find someone else in need of his assistance. By now, the sun had almost been completely consumed by the horizon; there was no way he could get back to the Observatory in time.

He had broken his promise.

He sighed and gazed around, seeing a pair of middle-aged women by a nearby well, gossiping about...whatever, the dog that he had met earlier had went back into hiding, there was a man who was fishing on a dock behind his house, and there was a nun dressed in blue, black and white, standing outside the village church.

The church! Of course, that should've been the first thing he should've done when he had gotten there...he had always wondered what the inside looked like...He went in and was welcomed by the simple decor. There were two long tables, horizontally placed one in front of the other, each having a set of four round wooden stools. Underneath the furniture was a long red carpet that had zigzag patterns on the end of each side. The church was pretty empty, there were only two people present; the priest and an old lady.

He sensed feelings of distress in the air, his first thought was the old lady, since the priest was staring off into space, probably thinking about what to eat for dinner. (A/N: Grilled cheese sandwiches, anyone...? I think I got some BBQ-flavored Pringles too)

"Please, Guardian Nori," the old lady cried, "help to reunite my husband's ring and I!"

...A ring...

Nori had found a lost ring. Maybe, it belonged to her. Stealthily and quickly, he slipped the keepsake ring into the old lady's coat pocket.

"Hm? That's funny," the old woman said to herself, "my coat suddenly feels a wee bit heavier..." she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out what she had been looking for, "Lord Almighty! It's, it's my Bruce's ring!" she said happily, "Well, I just don't understand it," she went on, "I searched high and low for this thing before, and I couldn't find it anywhere," she looked around her, "It must be Nori's doing. Aren't we lucky to have a Guardian who watches over us so well?" she put the ring on her finger, "Thank you! Thank you, Nori!" the old lady thanked the guardian. From her came a very familiar green-blue light, and from that, came - you guessed it - benevolessence.

Nori smiled, put the crystal in his bag and left, but only after hearing "Eureka! That's it! I'll make chicken stew for dinner!" being awkwardly exclaimed by the priest.

The guardian walked outside, and was greeted by the full moon and thousands, no, billions of stars that twinkled overhead.

Yep, that promise he made was total crap now. If only that farmer hadn't gone and took a nap, maybe, just maybe...

He saw Aquila in the middle of town, who looked to be pretty busy. He came up to his teacher, and quickly tried to get his words right.

"Good evening, Aquila," Nori said, "what brings you here on this lovely night?" he then began to think negatively, which was one thing he did a lot, "You're not here to check up on me, are you...?" he frowned, "...Don't you trust me?"

Aquila honestly didn't know how to respond to that. He knew of Nori's tragic past, his darkest secrets, his sexual orientation...

The guardian had good intentions, but every once in a while, he was tempted to do the wrong things, and very rarely did Nori carry out with his wrong doings, but, yes, the teacher could not fully trust his pupil. And, as he discussed with Columba, Nori was "but a fledgling", or in other words, too young. He was only 15. However, Aquila began to think about the good that his pupil had done. Despite his apparent frostiness, Nori put others before himself, he carried out various errands for his peers, and he was very caring, respectful and kind, and the goodness in him almost always ruled out the bad. That was all that the teacher needed.

"Nonsense," Aquila shook his head, "I trust you with my life. My new duty is to patrol the entire Protectorate, and though you guard it well, sometimes I must revisit my old territory." he paused, "And as I am here, Nori, there is one last lesson I wish to teach you."

"Okay then, teach away." Nori replied, the smile returning to his mysterious and beautiful features.

"As you already know, as Guardians, it's our duty to tend to our mortal flock, but this means more than merely watching over the living."

"Oh?"

"Yes, sometimes we must help those who have passed away, but whose souls continue to roam the land. You hear it too, do you not? The voice of a wandering soul here in the village in need of your assistance..." he secretly pointed behind himself to give Nori a hint at where the spirit was dwelling, and when the guardian got the gist, he went to help.

"Um, hi, you wouldn't happen to need any help, would you?" Nori asked the ghost, whom of which was turned away from the Guardian with his arms crossed, mumbling about something along the lines of "being ignored".

"Eh?" the ghostly thug looked at Nori, and his face lit up, "Oh, someone who's prepared to gimme the time o' day at last! Listen 'ere. Can you tell me why everyone's ignorin' me?"

"Hmm, well," Nori sighed, trying to think of an answer.

"...'Ang on a minute..." the ghostly thug interrupted, "w-wot's wiv that get-up, eh?"

"What? What's wrong with my clothes?" Nori questioned, straightening his left sleeve, however, he didn't think that soul he was trying to help was listening.

"Y-You ain't a...oh, my days, you are!" the ghost thug smiled, "Yer a Celestrian, ain'tcha?"

"That, I am." Nori verified.

"Do they all 'ave tails like you?"

"...No, they don't." the guardian sighed.

"Oh. Well, anyways, do you know why people won't talk to me anymore?"

"..." Nori scratched the back of his head.

"Go on, you can tell me. I can take it! That's wot's 'appened innit?"

"...Basically, you're dead." the guardian said bluntly.

The ghostly seemed awestruck, and it took him a moment to process what he had just heard, "Thanks, Mister, er...Celestrian. It's good fing you told me. When I thought everyone was just ignorin' me, I was about ready to do meself in anyway! But now I know wot's wot, I can just get on wiv it and...well, you know, rest in peace an' all that."

(A/N: Committing suicide is not cool, peeps. Remember, be nice to people and stand up to bullies. Good things happen to those who help others who need it.)

"Dou itashimashite," Nori nodded, "You're welcome."

The transparent thug was raised into the air, and engulfed by that totally expected light, which produced yet another crystal of benevolessence. And with that, the soul was up and gone to the heavens.

There was something weird about this particular crystal. It seemed much brighter than most...he just stuck it in the bag.

Then, he saw Ivor. What was he doing out this late? Didn't mortals need their sleep? Nori decided to be like Giovanni again and be nosy, and get closer.

'There's no point in going home,' the light blonde boy thought, 'I'll just have to suffer an ear-bending from Dad.' he looked around, 'People are saying that there's a ghost or the like about the place lately,' he tensed up, 'Ugh, I feel like I'm being watched. Brrrr...' he shivered.

He was right. He was being watched.

Nori lightly brushed his tail against Ivor's back, causing the latter to jump.

"I'm not s-scared!" Ivor stammered, becoming fearful, 'I don't even believe in ghosts!' he then said in his mind, trying to comfort himself, 'I do feel a little cold, though...maybe I should go home...' the troublemaker began to cautiously walk to his place of living, which soon turned into a frantic run followed by some screaming after Nori took off his glasses and threw them, hitting Ivor on the shoulder. The guardian deviously smirked. He loved messing with Ivor. There was no way that he was going to sleep tonight.

Aquila, who was very impressed with how his pupil handled the troubled soul, came up to him and smiled.

"You've done well, Nori," he said, "Thanks to your intervention, a mortal soul has made its peace, and is now at rest. The benevolessence of a departed soul shines more brilliantly than any."

"Thank you, Aquila." Nori replied, picking up his glasses from off the ground.

"You'll be returning to the Observatory with the crystals you have gathered post-haste, no doubt?"

"Hai," the guardian nodded.

"...Then I shall bid you farewell for now, I have much to do here in the Protector-hm?" Aquila stopped himself and looked up towards the midnight blue sky.

"...What?" Nori asked, and looked up as his teacher had done.

They saw a golden form of transportation of some sort, lighting up and shooting across the darkened atmosphere at a questionable speed.

"The Starflight Express..." Nori mumbled.

"Indeed," Aquila added, "It's been unusually active of late..." he paused, "...I've changed my mind. I shall accompany you to the Observatory after all, Nori."

Nori and Aquila set off into the night sky, to their home. When they got there, the teacher looked very antsy.

"I have important matters to discuss with Apus Major. Please, excuse me." he abruptly left.

'I wonder what's up with him,' the guardian thought, his tail swaying side to side. He decided not to think anymore of it and instead, deliver his enviable amount of benevolessence to Yggdrasil.

That also meant that he would have to walk up all those stairs...again. Nori groaned as he made his way up. As he did this, he noticed that there were lots of Celestrians that were gathering outside the tower for some reason, so he looked for his friends to see if they were doing the same, however, they were nowhere to be found. He felt so guilty for not fulfilling his vow. They probably wanted nothing more to do with him now, which was understandable...

When he made it to the very top, he saw that Aquila and Apus Major were already there, and they seemed to be in deep conversation. When the two other Celestrians noticed the guardian's presence, Aquila spoke first.

"Well met, Nori!" he exclaimed, "Truly, you've chosen a fortuitous moment to join us. Behold Yggdrasil. She's ready to burst into bloom with all the benevolessence we've offered unto Her."

"...Really?" Nori questioned, feeling an uplifting sensation from the Great World Tree, seeing Her soft, warm glow.

"Ho ho ho!" Apus Major laughed, "Yes, She is but a a hair's breadth now from bearing fruit." he continued, "Fyggbloom hails the opening of the Heavenly Gates, and sets the Celestrians on the path to salvation..."

"...And lo," Aquila added, "it shall be in the celestial carriage that we, the chosen custodians, journey unto the Realm of the Almighty." he turned to his apprentice, "It's time Nori. Offer the benevolessence you've gathered unto mighty Yggdrasil. Do so, and She will surely bear fruit at last."

The guardian hesitated before he walked to and kneeled at the foot of Yggdrasil, giving all three crystals to Her. While doing so, the tree's glow became much brighter than anyone had ever seen, and 7 golden fruits appeared along Her branches. Gasps of amazement filled the air from other celestial spectators around them.

"Behold!" Apus Major said with awe, "The sacred Fyggs bloom!"

Then, a very loud, and very long monotone whistle sounded throughout the Observatory, and out in the the distance, soaring in at lightning-fast speeds, was the one and only Starflight Express, probably using the light from the Great World Tree as a beacon to make its way to the Observatory. It pulled in and came to an abrupt halt.

"...And the celestial chariot appears..." the old Celestrian continued, "...Praise be! All as it was foretold!"

Immediately, Nori sensed something. Something not right. Something strong. Something strange. Something that he had a little bit of. Something evil...

And it was coming for them.

The tower began to violently shake, knocking the guardian off his feet, his tail being of no use to himself for perfect balance. Apus Major fought to stay afoot with his cane, totally speechless. Then, the evil finally came. Purple beams of light penetrated the Observatory from below. One beam had struck the celestial locomotive and broke it into pieces, dismantling it, and making it lose altitude, disappearing from celestial sight.

"What's happening?" Apus Major said, discouraged, "Have we been...decieved?"

Aquila didn't understand, and even though he had never seen such a thing like this, he knew this wasn't supposed to happen, so what trickery was this? Surely, this was not how celestial life was supposed to cease.

Nori found it difficult to get up, but eventually, he did, slowly coming towards the edge of the tower by the occurring wind. He gripped the ground, looked to the sky, and then at the newly-made cracks in the structure of the Observatory. Who was trying to get rid of them?

Aquila noticed his apprentice's struggle and tried to help him, but it was too risky. In a split second, Nori was pulled up and thrown over the edge.

"Nori!" the teacher cried, reaching out for the guardian, but he was already too far away.

Nori screamed and watched with much sadness as the Observatory, and the celestial bodies within became nothing but little dots, like the stars in the colorfully loud night sky.

"Chikushou!"

Then, all of the Fyggs went overboard too, each going in a different direction, never to be seen again. Ever. Or so it seemed...

The Celestrians watched in horror as one of their own plummeted to his death, shining brightly, his feathers separating from his wings. From the Protectorate, not only were people from around the world screaming for their lives, but where the magnitude was lower, some people were watching in awe as this "shooting star" fell from the sky, glistening in the dawning surroundings. It was very hard to miss. None of those mortals would forget this never-before-seen phenomenon (A/N: Or would they...? Foreshadow!).

Nori just knew this was the end for him. He prayed that he wouldn't die; he had so much more he wanted to do and see in life.

And, little did he know, there were three other "shooting stars", not as noticeable as him, that were thinking the same exact thing...

The guardian came closer to the ground, over a familiar land, and then a gigantic splash could be seen and heard, shaking the ground by tenfold. This couldn't end well, for the mortals, for himself, or for any other Celestrian who was experiencing the same fate. He hoped his friends were okay.

oooooooooooo

Me: Well, that's chapter one for you! Dragon Quest IX is one of my all time favorite games. I beat the game once before, (Thanksgiving day of 2015; took me 72 hours, 2 minutes and 52 seconds, I think. And let me tell you, the very last boss, I won't reveal their name for those of you who haven't gotten that far, is hard as fuck.) but I erased everything to rewrite this.

Ataru: Northern, what the hell!? Are you trying to kill my brother!?

Ashe: Ataru, calm down. I'm sure she wouldn't do something like that. Plus, according to the gameplay, this is supposed to happen.

Ataru: ...

Professor Applegate: Okay, this is pretty good. You wouldn't mind starting to write chapter two ASAP, would you?

Me: I'll try Felix. I'll have much more time to write this during summer vacation.

Arashi: (appearing out of nowhere) Hello everyone.

Ashe: Arashi? What are you doing here?

Professor Applegate: You came for the Universal Quartz, I suppose?

Arashi: No, Felix, not this time. I came to see my so- I mean, Nori...

Ataru: Well, he's not here right now. You should come back later.

Arashi: ...Where is he?

Ashe: In another story.

Arashi: Oh. When will he be back?

Me: I dunno, I guess it depends on how long the story will take to finish.

Arashi: ...Okay then. (vanishes)

Ataru: What do you think he wanted with Nori?

Professor Applegate: To drain his essence again, maybe?

Ashe: Pfft, definitely not. And I thought it was his mistress who tried to do that, not him.

Professor Applegate: Oh! Right...

Ataru: Ooh! I'm gonna go check on Jayce and see if he's okay...

Me: Be on the lookout for chapter two!

(5/29/16)


	2. Chapter 2

I have returned, my children. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I would've updated this earlier, but I kept putting it off, and yeah, sorry guys...

Jayce: (frantic) I heard about what happened at the end of chapter one! Is Nori gonna be okay!?

Me: Yes, yes, he's gonna be fine.

Jayce: ...What about Max, Gio and Hunter? They were the other three "shooting stars" weren't they?

OMFLG, Jayce! Don't give it away! Damn...

Jayce: (frowns) ...Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about them. (runs away) I mess everything up...

Ataru: Northern, you kinda gave that away yourself in the summary...

Oh. I did, didn't I?

Ashe: Jayce! Come back! (runs after Jayce) You don't mess everything up! You...you didn't know!

Professor Applegate: (thinking) Oh, Ashe is so beautiful. Her wonderful smile, her genuine personality, her nice pear shape, her big, round boobs...I wish I could-

Me: ...Felix, are you okay?

Professor Applegate: (totally out of it) ...Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine...

Me: You sure?

Professor Applegate: (lovestruck) ...Uh-huh...

Okay...

Ataru: Poor Jayce. (chuckling) Poor Professor...

Me: Why "Poor Professor", Ataru?

Ataru: Isn't it obvious, Northern? He has a crush on Ashe.

Me: ...Oh yeah! That's right...How could I forget about that? I was the one who made it happen.

Professor Applegate: (blushing) W-What? No I don't!

Me and Ataru: Yes you do.

Professor Applegate: You have no proof.

Ataru: The blush on your face says it all.

Professor Applegate: (blush grows deeper) ...Fuck you two.

Ashe: (comes back) I heard my name. What's going on?

Me: (smiling) Oh, nothing Ashe...

Ashe: Oh. Okay... (walks away) Jayce, please come out.

Jayce: No! I'll probably rip your shirt off with my eyes or something...!

Professor Applegate: (mumbling) That would be nice...

Ataru: I heard that, Professor.

Professor Applegate: ...Northern, you said that you made me to like Ashe, right?

Me: Oh, so now you're admitting to having a crush on her?

Professor Applegate: (sighs and rolls his eyes) Yeah, yeah... (looks away) ...Did you by any chance...make her to like...me?

Me: That's for me to know and for you to find out...

Professor Applegate: ...You bitch. Of course you'd wanna make me suffer.

Ataru: Hey, don't you also have feelings for Sam?

Professor Applegate: (blushing) ...

(By the way, Sam is a guy...You can get the rest of the story in "Just Friends, Right?", which will be published on Wattpad, um...soon. Enjoy, my little starlings! And, thank you so much to the people who are following me and/or have listed me as one of their favorite authors! I really, really appreciate it!)

Me: Ooh! I got something to take care of! I'll see you lovely people at the end of this chapter!

oooooooooooo

Nori sighed as he looked at the Guardian statue. On it, were the words, "Our Guardian, Nori," but it looked absolutely nothing like him at all.

So much for appearance...

For the past few days he had been in Angel Falls, he found out that his wings and his halo had disappeared during the tragic fall down to the Protectorate.

He was rescued by Erinn and he recovered at her house for a while, which led him to the conclusion that he was visible to all mortals.

Did that mean that he was no longer a Celestrian?

And with all that, he was pretty sure he wasn't a Guardian anymore, so now, he was just a martial artist in celestial attire, with no friends, nowhere to go, and no ideas on what to do next.

He wondered what people thought of him. With all the strange looks he had been receiving, they probbly thought he was weird because of his tail, his long, two-toned hair, which was a midnight blue with streaks of icy gray, the strange red scars on his left cheek and fingers, his sharp fangs...

To himself, to them, and a lot of people he knew, he was a monster (A/N: In my original series of "Never Forgotten", this is technically correct).

He started to think about his friends; the friends he didn't have much time for since he had become the Guardian of the small village, the friends that he had broken his promise to, the friends he could never see again, either because they were still Celestrians...

Or they had died in the destruction that had overwhelmed the Observatory.

"Hey, it's that Nori character who turned up just after the earthquake the other day," a familiar voice snickered.

The martial artist looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Ivor, with his friend Hugo not too far behind. He paid them no mind and turned his attention back to the Guardian statue.

"Oi! Wakey, wakey!" Ivor tried getting Nori's attention again, "What are you doing there, staring off into space?"

The martial artist growled in slight annoyance and turned around to retort, but the light blonde boy just kept going.

"I don't know what Erinn thinks she's doing, bothering with the likes of him," he mumbled to Hugo, "he won't tell us where he's from, his clothes are all weird, his hair is two different colors, and he has a tail! I wouldn't trust this weirdo as far as I could throw him..."

Nori's annoyed stare softened. So the part about being weird-looking to these mortals was true. He wasn't fazed by this this response, and it wasn't like he was expecting a different result or anything, however, that would've been nice for a change...

"I bet it's his name that's got Erinn so keen," Hugo replied, glancing at Nori for a quick second, "it's the same as our village Guardian's after all."

Ivor laughed, "Huh! I doubt it's even his real name. I bet he's just some no-good wandering minstrel taking on a Guardian's name to get a free lunch."

Nori's eye twitched, as did his tail. He was NOT a minstrel, and he hadn't been one in a long time. He knew they were only saying that because of what he was wearing. It was obvious at they didn't notice the staff that slung across his back. Oh, and thank the Almighty that his beloved weapon had undergone no damage in his tragic fall.

"Well, listen to this, oddball!" Ivor continued to insult the martial artist, "I won't let you get away with any funny business on my patch!"

"Yeah, watch your step!" Hugo joined in, "Ivor doesn't like Erinn giving all of her attention to you."

Nori rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. To most girls and young women (and some guys), oddly enough, and unbelievably, he was eye candy, or in other words, attractive. On top of that, he didn't care about Ivor's crush on Erinn.

Ivor shot a look at the lemon blonde boy, "Shut up, you idiot!" he yelled, "Why would you say that!?" he cautiously looked around before something caught his eye, "Uh-oh!"

And, as if on cue, Erinn came in to join the conversation, "What's going on?" she asked, "What are you two bothering Nori for?"

"Err...Hi, Erinn!" Ivor stammered, his cheeks becoming pink in color, "Nothing's going on. Just teaching Nori here a few village rules." he turned to his friend, "Anyway, we were just leaving. Come on, Hugo."

Erinn shook her head as she watched the boys take their leave, "I don't know why Ivor's so full of himself these days," she said, "He never used to be like that." she turned to the martial artist and smiled, "Anyway, you must be feeling better now if you're out walking around, Nori." she looked off to the waterfall, "Coming up here reminds me of when I first found you. I was so surprised. You must've gotten caught up in the earthquake and fallen from the top of the waterfall. You're lucky you survived." that was because Celestrians, err, yeah, could withstand more damage than mortals. The young girl looked back at Nori, "Anyway, I'm heading home. There's nothing more to do at the inn for now. Enjoy the rest of your walk, but make sure you don't overdo it, okay? I'll see you back at the house." she walked away, leaving Nori by himself again.

He decided not to go back to Erinn's place just yet, and he didn't feel like walking around and greeting people, and he could sense that they didn't want to greet him either (not that he had problem with it). Almost everyone in Angel Falls thought that he was the source of all the bad luck that the village had been having since that earthquake...

He could run away and try to forget about all of this, but he wouldn't get very far since the mountain pass was blocked by a landslide, so he decided to stay put and mediate for a bit.

To help him think. To calm his nerves. To help him from getting stressed out and doing something irrational.

As he did so, he just couldn't stop thinking about the fate of his friends. Were they okay? And if that was the case, were they looking for him? No, surely, they wouldn't jump off the Observatory just to look for him...would they?

'Iie...' Nori thought sadly, 'No...' he would never be able to see Giovanni smile again, never have to try and get him out of trouble, he would never be able to answer Hunter's questions about anything he didn't understand again, and he would never hear the comforting voice of Max again, nor would he ever to have the chance to express his true feelings to the warrior...

He would be forever alone; physically, emotionally, and romantically.

If the martial artist was to ever go back home, would the Observatory still be there? Would anyone be there? And most importantly, would anybody know where and who did those purple beams of light came from?

His eyes shot open. He had to figure that out. He just had to. Ugh, this had to be one of the most nerve-wracking meditation sessions ever.

The martial artist got up, stretched, and walked off, ignoring the stares and whispers that he was receiving because of his looks. He decided to buy something from the village shoppe. He opened the door and went in, and saw a merchant at the counter.

"Hello, young man!" he greeted, "And what can I get for you today?"

"Um, do you have medicinal herbs here?"

"I have a bunch of those," the merchant replied, "How many do you need?"

"...I'll take 10."

The merchant pulled out 10 medicinal herbs and handed them to Nori, "That'll be 80 gold coins," he added.

The martial artist took no time at all counting out the required number of currency and paid the merchant.

"Thank you very much!" the merchant smiled, "Have a nice day!"

"You too," Nori replied and walked back out.

'Ha! "That boy's bad luck" my ass,' the merchant thought greedily, 'If he's got money he wants to spend, then by all means he can come right on in anytime he wants. My sales are gonna go through the roof if this keeps up! Hehehe...'

(A/N: Remember, you guys, money can only keep you happy but for so long. Don't be greedy about cash and be sure to donate to charity once in a while.)

The martial artist sensed feelings of anger and frustration in the air, and it seemed to be coming from Ivor's home. He and his father, who was the mayor of Angel Falls, seemed to be in a heated argument. Since he was bored out of his mind, the martial artist leaned up against the window and listened, keeping his tail out of sight, so that the blonde boy and his father wouldn't notice it, get suspicious and find out that someone was eavesdropping on them.

"...Isn't it about time you did something useful with yourself rather than just hanging about the place causing trouble?" Mayor Litlun questioned angrily, "You'd do well to take a leaf out of Erinn's book. She puts in a lot of hard work at the inn, that girl."

Nori knew that last statement had to have plucked one of Ivor's nerves, but that was to be expected, "Huh! What's Erinn got to do with it?" he said, aggravated, "I'm trying to find something I wanna do, anyway. And when I figure out what that is, I'll work my socks off! ...Probably..."

'Family relationship problems...' Nori thought, biting his lip, feeling a little bad for the troublemaker, 'Personal problems...'

He looked up and yawned, dusk was starting to set in. He had spent almost the whole day doing absolutely nothing, besides thinking.

He wondered what his friends were doing right now. If they were alive, that is.

(A/N: I know I keep making a reference to Nori's peeps, but that's only to emphasize the care that he has for each of them.)

Sighing, he went back to Erinn's house, smiling as a delicious smell welcomed him in. (A/N: I had three different types of chicken, some tater tots and a sandwich for dinner. Oh! And don't forget the ketchup! So unhealthy, I know...How about you?)

"Hello again, Nori," the young girl stopped what she was doing and greeted the martial artist, "I've just finished preparing the food. You look like you've had quite a long day. I expect you probably just want to eat your dinner and turn in for the night, don't you?"

"If that's okay with you, yes," Nori replied, looking forward partake in the thing called "sleeping" again for the third time.

"Then let's eat! Can you help me lay the table?"

"Of course." the martial artist yawned again.

"You can have a rest as soon as we finish eating, don't worry."

Nori helped Erinn put three sets of plates, forks, spoons and cups on the dinner table (A/N: You forgot about Erinn's grandfather, I know you did, but that's okay, I almost did too). After that, Erinn placed the food on the plates.

"Mmm, this food looks delicious, Erinn," her grandfather complimented as he seated himself at the table.

"Yeah, and it smells great," Nori added, following the old man in suit.

"Thank you, you two." Erinn giggled, sitting down as well. With that, they ate their delightful, satisfying meals, and after that, the martial artist helped the young girl clean off the table, wash the dishes and put them away, saying good night to everyone before retiring to the guest bedroom, plopping on the bed, removing his shoes and his glasses and getting under the cool covers, slowly closing his eyes...

'I wonder what's gonna happen tomorrow,' Nori thought, yawning one last time. His mind began to race once more. To think that one day, he would be doing the duty of his Guardianship, and then by the end of the day, he would be wingless and without a halo...basically, a half mortal-like being. Now, he's questioned countless times if his friends were alive and looking for him or not or if they were deceased. And if that was the case, he'd just have to try his absolute best not to slip into depression (because his friends wouldn't want to see him sadder than usual) and move on and make new friends, no, err, "acquaintances"...yeah, that's the word. No could ever take the "friends" title away from the people he truly loved and cared about. Hell, he couldn't forget about them if he tried. Without his companions, he...well, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He would feel more out of place than he already did. Those were the people who truly understood him and his reasons for the things he'd do and cared about him. And he cared for them too.

'Please, Almighty one, give me a sign. Just one sign to tell me if my friends are okay,' he prayed in his head before peacefully drifting off to sleep.

'...Please...I need to know...'

The next morning, Erinn quietly entered the guest bedroom, only to find a knocked-out teenage boy snoring loudly, drool running down one side of his deeply flushed cheeks, with the blanket covering only half his body.

"...Aishiteru, Makkusu..." he stirred, unconsciously rubbing his nose, turning onto his side.

'Hm? What does that mean?' Erinn thought out of curiosity, but she merely shook it off and decided to wake up the martial artist before he said something she would regret hearing...

"Nori," she walked up to the bed and shook him gently, "wake up. You have a visitor."

"...Iie, Joban'ni," Nori mumbled, "...I don't wanna..."

'Who's Joban'ni? I know for sure that he isn't referring to me,' Erinn raised an eyebrow, "Come on, please, get up." she pleaded.

"...Just give me five more...minutes..."

Erinn sighed and pulled the covers off of Nori, which scared the crap out of him.

"Aah!" the martial artist cried, falling off the bed, his tail puffed out to express his fear, "I'm so sorry! I never meant to grab your-" he stopped himself, realized that he wasn't dreaming anymore, and that he was being watched, "Oh. Heh, um, good morning, Erinn," he chuckled, wiping the drool off of his cheek, "do you need any help with anything or something?"

"Morning Nori!" the young girl giggled, "And, no, I don't

need any help right now, but I think Ivor might."

"Huh?"

"He's got something or other he wants to talk to you about."

"Oh, brother." Nori groaned and rolled his eyes, putting on his glasses. He didn't hate the troublemaker, He just wasn't fond of him too much. In fact, he couldn't exactly hate anybody; people did things for different reasons, whether others liked it or not.

"He knows you're here, so I really can't make him go away. Just...give him a few minutes of your time, okay?" then, Erinn walked out.

"...Alright." Nori got up, put on his celestial shoes, grabbed his staff and his bag. This had better not be just a waste of time.

He went downstairs and saw Ivor standing at the door waiting anxiously with a copper sword and a pot lid in his hands. Yawning, he walked up to the light blonde boy and crossed his arms.

"Hey, Nori," Ivor said, "Don't look so surprised. There's something I wanna talk to you about, that's all. We can't talk about it here though. Come outside a minute."

Nori shrugged his shoulders and followed Ivor outside, going around to the side of the house.

"...What do you want?" the martial artist asked with an unreadable look on his face, "You dragged me out here so you could make fun of me again, I'm guessing."

"...Um...no," Ivor replied, thinking back to the day before, feeling just a slight tinge of guilt, "...So here's the thing. You've heard about how the pass has been blocked by a landslide, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that pass is a lifeline for us here in Angel Falls. We're totally cut off if we can't use it. It's a real problem for Eri- a real problem for everyone, I mean."

Nori raised an eyebrow at the troublemaker's little slip-up. He didn't understand how a guy could have a crush on a girl, but that was just his sexual orientation talking.

"So I was thinking: what better time for Ivor to come to the rescue?" Ivor continued, "I'm gonna clear the landslide and make it passable again. It'll get my dad off my back for a while, and I know Erinn will be pleased too."

There we go with the Erinn stuff again.

"There's just one hitch to my perfect plan. Since the earthquake, there's been lots of monsters about, and it's pretty dangerous to leave the village now."

Nori knew what was coming.

"That's where you come in. I was thinking that you could tag along..."

Totally right! Hmm, that actually sounded like fun. One, the martial artist could show those monsters who's boss, and two, it would give him the chance to sharpen his skills for even bigger battles that would hopefully happen later on...

"You minstrel types are pretty handy in a scrap, right?"

Nori's sighed. For the last freakin' time: he was NOT a minstrel anymore and would never be one again! KESSHITE!

"...Can I count on you to help me out?" the light blonde boy asked.

"Fine," Nori replied, returning the grin, which actually looked like an evil smirk to most people. He had no need to think about anything bad happening about this plan, because if something like that were to happen, he'd be ready for it. Definitely.

"Knew it!" Ivor exclaimed happily, "Right then, you lead the way, Nori. It's easy enough to find. You just head out of the village and follow the road east. Oh, yeah, and let's keep this to ourselves, okay?" he looked around for nosy eavesdroppers, "We wouldn't want everyone to know about this."

And that was how Ivor joined Nori.

As they made their way to the entrance of Angel Falls, they encountered Hugo, who was standing under the archway.

"Here comes another lamb to the slaughter!" the lemon blonde boy yelled, "You can't go out there, you know. There are monsters about."

"Stop trying to scare people!" Ivor retorted, "We're leaving and there's nothing you can do about it."

"W-Wait a minute!" Hugo changed the subject, glaring at the martial artist, "What are you doing with him, Ivor? Since when were you two best mates?"

Nori could sense jealousy from Hugo.

"You're a pain in the a- err, butt sometimes!" the light blonde boy caught himself, as Hugo was not one to tolerate cursing, "Besides, we're just going to clear the landslide."

"Nice save," the martial artist snickered.

"Oh, right..." Hugo said, trying to think of what to say to keep them from going, "but there really are monsters about, you know."

Ivor just brushed it off, "Pfft, nothing I can't handle. Just let us by, will you? Hold us up any longer and there'll be trouble!" he threatened.

"G-Go on then," Hugo stuttered, "I'm not stopping you." he moved out of the way, "But, I'll give you some advice. If you get tired or hurt, you'll come straight back to the village if you know what's good for you. The key is to make sure you don't push yourself too hard, but if that just so happens to be the case, a quick rest at Erinn's house should be enough to get your strength back up again. There's no need to be a hero." Hugo ended his speech with a matter-of-fact tone in his voice, hoping that they, mostly Ivor, got everything that he said.

'You don't know the half of it,' Nori thought silently.

"If I wanted your advice, I'd ask for it," Ivor said, losing his patience, walking on to complete the mission, "Who do you think you are? Nori's mum!?"

The lemon blonde boy ignored Ivor, and directed his attention to the martial artist, "I know you've got yourself to look after," he whispered, so that the light blonde boy wouldn't be able to hear in on his request, "but you'll keep an eye on Ivor too, won't you?"

"Don't worry, Hugo, he's in good hands," Nori replied, " I'll watch him like..." he paused a moment, trying to think of a good way to end the sentence, "like...a Guardian."

"There's no such thing as Guardians!" Ivor yelled from afar.

Nori chuckled and hurried off to join his temporary companion, 'You don't know the half of it, either,' he thought for a second time.

It took some time to get to the pass, mostly because they had encountered a slime, a cruelcumber, some more slimes, two bodkin archers, a sacksquatch, a trio of batterflies, and two more cruelcumbers. Ivor wasn't much help with destroying the enemies, mostly because his sword attack had almost always missed completely, or it backfired on him, which left Nori to take care of practically everything, not that the martial artist had a problem with that.

Outlined by walls of solid rock, and surrounded by grass, along with tall, greeny trees, they had finally reached the pass, which was split into three paths, like a triple-pronged fork. Two had been there for years, and one had been recently made...

That's when Nori finally saw it, smack dab in the middle: the Starflight Express. It no longer had that golden glow that it had when it pulled into the Observatory that fateful night. He couldn't feel a presence within it, which meant that whoever was driving it had made it out okay, or, well, you know, they...kicked the bucket...

He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away, no matter how hard he tried. If he could see this, maybe he was still a Celestrian, and maybe he had a chance to get back home.

"Finally!" Ivor exclaimed, "We're here at last. The landslide's somewhere in these woods, apparently." he looked at the martial artist, and saw that he wasn't paying attention.

"What are you staring at?" the light blonde boy questioned, trying to look for, and see what the martial artist found so interesting.

"W-Wha?" Nori snapped out of his trance and reached for his tail, gazing at the latter with a confused expression.

"It's just some fallen trees," Ivor continued, "I don't get what's so fascinating about that. You can be properly weird sometimes, you know that?" it was obvious that the troublemaker couldn't see the Starflight Express, which made Nori look crazy, since he was the only one who could actually see the thing.

The martial artist only blushed in embarrassment and chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, 'Damn, I've gotta be more secretive about these things,' he thought.

Ivor eyed Nori once more, "...The landslide's this way," he said, directing himself on the path on the left, "I'll go on ahead!" he walked off.

'I was right,' he thought, 'Nori is a weirdo.'

The martial artist took one last glance at the celestial carriage before running off to catch up with Ivor.

oooooooooooo

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, among the bushes, flew out a floating pink sphere, which stopped in front of the celestial locomotive.

"That was weird," it said, "It was almost if he could see the Starflight Express..."

oooooooooooo

Nori and Ivor came face-to-face with a dirt wall, which towered over both of their heads. This landslide was more than big, it was gigantic.

"This is worse than I thought!" the light blonde boy cried. The martial artist had to agree; clearing away this landslide would require much more than the two of them and it would most certainly take more than a day to complete.

So, mission...failed? Yeah, it definitely seemed that way.

"Is this it?" Ivor asked himself, downtrodden, "But it's so much bigger than I imagined it would be..." he turned to Nori, "You and I will never be able to shift this on our own," he shot the big mound of dirt, trees and debris an angry look, as if it had succeeded on its duty to...um, I don't know...uh, doing what landslides did, "Stupid landslide!" he sniffled, his anger quickly turning into sadness, "And I was all ready to see the look on Dad's face when I came back to the village a hero..." Nori was a little offended; there were two people trying to contribute to this standstill operation, not just one. Ivor's lip began to quiver, and his fist came into contact with the dirt wall, "Waaaah!" he began to cry.

(A/N: Or at least, that's what it was meant to look like he was doing. I couldn't really tell, because I have poor eyes. Sike! I actually have 20/20 vision, yet I have a small degree of farsightedness...How is that?)

(Another A/N: Sorry about that little crappy part up there. I wasn't really sure what to say.)

The martial artist sighed, cursed under his breath and shook his head. For someone his age, Ivor was being very childish, but he could see the reason in the troublemaker's reaction. As he had seen and heard the day before, Ivor and his father did not get along very well. The mayor was very tired of his son's laziness and lack of enthusiasm to work. Everyone in town, except for Ivor, seemed to have a job to do, whether that be managing the village shoppe or the inn, tending to horses and crops, or being committed to the church. In his mind, if he got rid of the landslide, he would be seen as useful in Mayor Litlun's eyes, and things would be alright between them again, therefore, they could establish a healthy "father and son" relationship. It was all about getting an approval, and now he couldn't get that because the current situation at hand was easier said than done.

Nori sensed something on the other side of the landslide. Actually, make that a few somethings. Approximately 4 somethings to be exact.

"Hellooo!" a voice called out, "Is somebody there?"

...4 people.

"Hellooo! If you're there, say something!"

"Huh?" Ivor jumped a bit, quit his childish act and walked closer to the landslide, "It sounds like there's someone on the other side!"

The martial artist just gave the light blonde boy a look that had "No shit, baka. Thanks for fucking around with the obvious," written all over it.

"Hey! I'm over here," Ivor yelled, "It's me, Ivor from Angel Falls. No doubt you've heard of me!"

Nori growled lightly. This boy was a very prideful bastard. At this point, he just wanted to- um...okay, we're not going to get into details and enter the dark voids of Nori's mind...heh heh...If you must know, let's just say it's not pretty.

"Jings! Someone from Angel Falls!" another soldier exclaimed, "We're soldiers sent from Stornway. King Schott sent us to clear the landslide."

(A/N: If the only place blocked by the landslide was Angel Falls, why would Ivor have to announce that he was from there, and why would one of the soldiers from Stornway...you know what, nevermind. I hope your enjoying the story so far!)

"Blimey!" Ivor said to himself, yet he turned to the martial artist, "The King of Stornway must really rate Angel Falls to bother helping us out like that."

"I guess we aren't needed here then..." Nori added, overhearing what Ivor had said.

Ivor pouted, "Huh! Now I wish we hadn't bothered coming all this way."

"Wait!" a soldier pleaded as the two boys proceeded to head back to the village, as if he knew they were leaving, "There's an urgent matter we need to ask you about. Do you happen to know if a lass named Patty made her way to the village just after the earthquake? She works at the inn in Stornway, but she took off one day for Angel Falls and we've heard nothing of her since."

"Patty?" Ivor looked at the martial artist, who only shrugged in response, "Nope, doesn't ring any bells. Why would she want to come to Angel Falls anyway?"

"Aye, well, rumor has it that she was on here way there through the Hexagon. The path there's been blocked too, though, so we've no way of finding out where she is."

Ivor turned to Nori yet again, "The Hexagon?" he repeated, "That old ruin we used to have to go traipsing all the way through before this pass was built? No one goes there anymore. It's jam-packed with monsters and falling apart so badly it might come down on your head!"

By the way it was being described, it seemed to be very stupid to enter the Hexagon in its current state...

"There's no way a woman would go there alone," the troublemaker continued, turning towards the soldiers, "The rumors must be wrong."

"Alright," a soldier sighed, "well perhaps you could just relay back to your village the fact that the road will be open again soon. And if you could ask around about Patty while you're at it, that'd be grand."

"No problemo!" Ivor replied, happy to be of service after all, "Just leave it to me. You can always count on Ivor!"

'You must resist, Nori,' the martial artist thought to himself, clenching his fists, 'What ever you do, DON'T crack Ivor's neck. Just think of cats and everything will be okay.' he took a deep breath and instantly became calm again.

"C'mon, Nori. Home time!" the troublemaker said, "I reckon they'll all be pretty pleased to hear the news."

Nori quietly followed Ivor out of the pass, taking one last glance at the Starflight Express.

oooooooooooo

The sun began to set in the distance, meaning that it would be dark soon. After a long silence between the both of them, Nori was the first to break the ice.

"...I, um...I heard you and your dad arguing the other day..." he said, already knowing how the troublemaker was going to react.

"Wait, so you mean you were spying on us?" Ivor asked, not very happy with having someone with knowledge about his privacy, "How dare you!"

"Sorry," the martial artist shrugged his shoulders, "I was bored."

Ivor sighed, "Huh. I was hoping no one would hear that. You'd better not tell Erinn, okay?" he suddenly became very desperate, "I mean, please don't tell Erinn!"

"I won't, I promise," the martial artist placed a hand over his heart, "Your secret is safe with me."

The light blonde boy felt a wave a relief wash over him.

The walk back to Angel Falls was rather uneventful so far, that was, until, out of the blue, they were attempted to be ambushed by a quartet of teeny sanguinis, a duo of bodkin archers and a dracky.

"Shit!" Nori cursed, getting into his battle stance.

"Yes!" Ivor grinned, "Finally, something to spice things up a bit! I was about to die of boredom!"

Nori used trip of a deathtime on the two bodkin archers, which was only useful in knocking down one of them. The one that was not affected, shot an arrow at the martial artist, who easily deflected the attack and sent it right back to their source. The arrow impaled the bodkin archer in the chest, killing it instantly. It disappeared in the purple dust, leaving behind some coins.

One of the teeny sanginis flew over to the troublemaker, but its attempt was thwarted as a copper sword came crashing down on his head, also killing it instantly, vanishing into purple dust.

For once, Ivor's sword was actually working with him...

The other teeny sanginis were not happy with their losses, and two of them tried to bite him, but Ivor was able to evade both attacks. Nori came of nowhere and bonked them hard on the head, finishing them off.

The dracky didn't move from its spot. It just stayed there, watching them.

Amongst all of this, the bodkin archer that had been handicapped for a few moments was able to get back up. It took a sudden hating to Ivor, even though he hadn't done anything to provoke it yet. It took out a arrow with a questionably sharp tip. It readied its weapon, took its aim, and fired.

Nori saw the arrow coming for Ivor, and took action.

"Ivor, look out!" he cried, jumping in front of the light blonde boy to keep him from getting hit. Both of them landed on the ground, and luckily, no one was harmed. Not yet, at least.

The arrow ricocheted off of a tree trunk, and just as the martial artist was getting up, helping the troublemaker do the same, it nailed him right on his left butt cheek.

"Ah, fuck!" Nori cried, grimacing. The arrow had to be sharper than his own fangs because that's how bad it hurt

Ignoring his irritation for one second, the martial artist ran towards the bodkin archer and perfected a front flip, landing gracefully, letting a giant wad of fire escape from him lips, which charred the monster to death. The move was called hot lick. It was something he learned as a minstrel, and since it was a trait, it could be carried on into his current vocation.

Ivor watched in awe. Just what in the world was Nori? A dragon of some sort was the first thing that popped into his mind.

While Nori regained his composure, the very last teeny sanguini rushed over to him and sunk its teeth into his arm, immediately breaking skin and drawing blood. The martial artist roared (A/N: I mean that literally, like a lion) in immense pain. He began to run around in circles, screaming, flailing his arms about, trying to get the cute, but dangerous demon thing to let go.

"Ouch! Stop biting me, dammit!" he yelled frantically.

Ivor came to Nori's rescue and removed the teeny sanguini from existence.

Then, the dracky finally decided to step in and attack Nori, making him fall to the ground. He closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath, feeling a bit dizzy, and totally pooped by this.

The troublemaker attempted to make mincemeat of the bat thingy, but it fleed the battle scene, fearing for its life.

The battle was finally over.

"Oh...oh god!" Ivor exclaimed, rushing over to Nori's side, freaking out, "I-I'm so sorry! I should've jumped in and came to help you sooner, otherwise this wouldn't have happened!"

Nori said nothing and made no movements, except for the inhalation and exhalation of his slow and quiet breathing.

"C'mon, Nori, say something!" Ivor gently shook the martial artist, totally scared by this point, "Move your tail if you can hear me."

Although it wasn't a very fast response, Nori did move his tail, "...Ivor..." he said finally, "Calm down. It's okay. You did what you could. All that matters is that you're safe, nobody's dead, and I didn't break my glasses..." he groaned, gripping his injured arm. The pain hurt so bad now that it was deemed indescribable.

The light blonde boy to explain his reason, "...B-But, what about your wounds an-"

"Relax, man, I'll be fine, trust me. Now," the martial artist blushed, gradually lifting up his tail up a bit more, "um...could you do me a favor and pull this arrow out of my ass?"

"Uh, okay..." Ivor got a good grip on the arrow, but then he hesitated. He had never done something like this before, and he certainly didn't want to cause Nori anymore pain than he had already experienced, "Do you want me to pull it out quickly, or...?"

"Yeah, pull it out as quick as you can. Don't hold back, just...yank it- ahh!" Nori was cut off, an very painful feeling shot all over his body. He looked at the light blonde boy and bit his lip. The arrow had been pulled out.

"...What?" Ivor asked, discarding the arrow, "You told me not to hold back and to yank it out, so I did," he helped the martial artist back onto his feet and handed him his stuff, "Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"...Positive," Nori dusted himself off, "We should hurry up and get back to the village. It's almost dark." he continued on, despite his injuries, taking a medicinal herb out of his bag and eating it, healing his wounds.

"R-Right." Ivor first went around to pick up the coins scattered around the field. Just how could someone survive all of that damage in one sitting, and almost walk away from it all like they were only measly scratches? He followed the martial artist, secretly thankful for having someone like him around. The troublemaker didn't want to admit it, but Nori was amazing.

When they made it back to Angel Falls, night had completely taken over. Hugo was still under the archway, probably anxiously awaiting their return.

"Hey guys, you're back!" he exclaimed with joy, mostly because Ivor and Nori had made it back in one piece, "Manage to clear up that landslide, did you?"

"Ha ha!" Ivor laughed, "Just wait 'til I tell you the news!"

Hugo couldn't take it. He really wanted to know what happened. If it had to take all day, it just had to be something, "Ooh! What is it? Tell me! Tell me!" he pleaded, "Stop looking so smug and just spill the beans!"

"Nah," the light blonde boy shook his head, "I have to report to Dad first, don't I? Then I'll come back and fill you in," he ran off to to his house to tell his father, the mayor, of his doings.

"...Sounds like it might be good news," the lemon blonde boy said to Nori, "but I won't get my hopes up too much. You have to take what he says like a pinch of salt."

"I see what you mean," Nori smirked, crossing his arms.

"Oh, and I know it's not really my place but to say so, but thanks for looking out for Ivor," Hugo added, "He has his faults, that's for sure, and he drives most of us insane half the time, but I would never wish him any ill."

"Don't mention it," the martial artist's smirk became more of a grin, "You don't have to thank me, really. It's what I do." he dashed off to join the troublemaker.

The lemon blonde boy smiled. What was he jealous of Nori for again? No reason, that's what. He bet that the martial artist was a great friend to have. If only Ivor was a little more like that...

oooooooooooo

(Time skip: After Ivor explains to his father about what happened...)

"...I see," Mayor Litlun said with understanding, "So the soldiers from Stornway should have the pass cleared for us before long."

"That's right. Everyone will be so relieved to hear the news. Ivor saves the day, eh?" Ivor ended on a cocky note.

Nori already knew the outcome; a backfired failure.

"Don't be ridiculous!" the mayor screeched, causing both the martial artist and the troublemaker to wince, "You were foolish to go all the way out there, just the two of you. Utterly foolish!"

"B-But!" the light blonde boy tried to find his words, and Nori decided just to keep his mouth shut as he had been doing, "Why are you so angry?" Ivor asked sheepishly, "If we hadn't gone to the landslide, you'd never have known it was about to be cleared."

"So what?" came his father's reply, "If I didn't know now, I'd have found out soon enough. Knowing a little bit sooner is hardly worth risking your life for. That's why I'm angry. That's why you're foolish."

The light blonde boy opened his mouth to retaliate, but Nori stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head with a look that said, "Don't. It's not worth it."

It really wasn't. Mayor Litlun was much wiser than his son.

"...Gah! Fine!" the troublemaker heeded the martial artist's expression. That's when he remembered the soldiers' request, "...Oh yeah, there was something else. Something that I heard from one of the soldiers. They want us to find some girl named Patty who went missing on her way here."

Nori decided that this didn't concern him anymore, so he proceeded to leave while Ivor and his father were distracted by each other, however, yet again, as if on cue, Erinn joined in on the conversation, busting through the door and into the living room, nearly knocking him over.

"Wait a minute! Is that true?" she asked, looking at the martial artist and then Ivor.

"Erinn!" the light blonde boy said, shocked and startled by the young girl's sudden and unannounced presence, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" Erinn retorted quickly, "I'm here because you whisked Nori off on some silly adventure!" she grabbed hold of Nori's arm and held it close, not noticing the martial artist's look of discomfort.

Nori was about to protest, but he decided to drop it and stay quiet for a little longer.

"Anyway, never mind that," Erinn continued, sighing, "Is it true that Patty from Stornway has gone missing?"

"Ah, yes. You're from Stornway originally, aren't you, Erinn?" Mayor Litlun questioned, "Do you know the woman?"

"I seem to remember my dad talking about someone called Patty from his days in Stornway," the young girl frowned, letting go of Nori's arm, "Oh dear! Maybe she didn't know he'd passed away and was coming here to see him..."

"Hmm..." the mayor scratched his beard, "Well, I understand everyone's concerns, but we can't very well send a search party with no lead to go on."

"Actually, the soldier said something about how she might've been on her way here through the Hexagon," Ivor added.

"Is that so? Well, even if that's the case, we still can't be of any help. The Hexagon is far too dangerous nowadays." Mayor Litlun said, "Erinn, Why don't you take Nori home now? Try not to worry too much." he glared at Ivor, "I'd appreciate a bit of privacy so that I can talk some sense into this pig-headed son of mine..."

"T-There's no need for that, Dad!" Ivor stuttered, knowing that he wasn't going to be leaving that spot for a long time...

oooooooooooo

Erinn did as the mayor said and took Nori back to her home, taking him upstairs and into her room to continue to talk to him.

"I was so worried when I heard you'd left the village, Nori," she said truthfully, scanning him for any cuts or bruises, which had healed long before, "You seem to be unscathed, though. You're obviously a lot tougher than I thought..."

'Ha! Damn right I am!' Nori thought to himself, 'Well, sorta...'

"Speaking of which, um..." the young girl went on, "I was wondering if I could ask you a favor, Nori."

The martial artist already knew what she was going to, or, at least try to, ask him.

"You see, I'm quite worried about all this talk about Patty going missing. So I was wondering if you could-" Erinn shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to say it, "Oh, nevermind! The Hexagon is really far too dangerous. I couldn't possibly ask that much of you. I'm really worried about Patty, but it's not safe enough to go out and look for her."

Nori sighed and left Erinn to have some time to herself, wanting to do something about all of this.

"...Guardian Nori," he heard the young girl begin to pray, "please watch over Patty and see that no harm comes to her..."

That was it. Nori had, and was going to do something right then and there. He made sure had everything that he would need, his weapon, some medicinal herbs, etcetera, etcetera...

He went down the stairs, quietly, as Erinn's grandfather was fast asleep, went out the door and set off into the night.

He had a new mission; he would go into the Hexagon, find the woman named Patty, and bring her back safe and sound. Unlike the landslide situation, this was a task he knew he could complete with flying colors.

oooooooooooo

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Current Vocational Stats:

Nori - Minstrel, Level 5; 131 experience points.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Note: Nori is a minstrel as of now in the actual game, but in the story, he's a martial artist, so don't confuse yourself. His vocation will change to comply with the story when he gets to a certain place, but only after he defeats a certain someone...I'm being very careful not to reveal names and places until I get there in this story, so now, I'm not spoiling things.)

oooooooooooo

Professor Applegate: Why did Northern leave in such a rush? If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's got another-

Ashe: Idea?

Professor Applegate: Yeah. Last time she had one of those, Gio almost got raped by a tree.

Ashe: I totally remember that...

Ataru: Hey, Professor, what does "jings" mean?

Professor Applegate: It's a Scottish term used to express excitement.

Ataru: Oh. I guess that makes sense.

Ashe: (knocks on the door) Northern, are you okay in there?

Me: Yeah, just give me a few more moments and I'll be right out!

Ataru: This idea is gonna be good, and by good, I mean bad.

Professor Applegate: Really bad.

Ashe: Super bad.

Jayce: (finally comes out) She's probably getting rid of me. I'm literally the worst thing that's happened to us.

Ataru: Jayce, that's not true.

Ashe: You are a wonderful asset to our team.

Ataru: Yeah, Ashe is right.

Jayce: I'm sorry, I just don't believe you. I can't believe you. All I've ever done is fuck up everything with my clumsy ass and I can never seem to make things better...

Professor Applegate (sighing) ...Jayce, listen to them, because what they're saying is 100% true. I'm sorry about what I said about you earlier and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings...

Jayce: ...

Professor Applegate: You have a very wonderful personality, you're very kind, and-

Jayce: (hugs the professor) Stop it, Professor. That's all I needed. Don't strain yourself just to prove a point for me.

Professor Applegate: Uh, okay then...

Jayce: Thanks.

Me: I. Have. Finished my creations!

Ataru: Oh shit, she made more than one...

Professor Applegate: We're screwed.

Me: (opens the door, and a giant cloud of smoke follows) Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Maninder and Mike!

Maninder: Hi.

Mike: Meow.

(Another note: Don't get the wrong idea! Mike is not a cat-like person!)

Ataru, Professor Applegate, Ashe and Jayce: (shocked) ...Hi?

I was up until about 5 o' clock this morning trying to complete and revise this thing. See you guys again In chapter three! Oh, and if you saw the word "party" in here anywhere besides the one time that it actually makes sense near the end, please PM me and let me know. Thanks! R&amp;R!

(7/17/16) (7/22/16)


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